[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 160 (Monday, October 24, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         RECOGNIZING GENE DEWS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARTHA ROBY

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 24, 2011

  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an exemplary 
individual--Gene Dews--who has dedicated much of his lifetime to 
cultivating student athletes in the state of Alabama.
  Dews is a Fort Gaines, Georgia, native and a graduate of Clay County 
High School. He also earned degrees from Georgia Southwestern College 
and Troy State University.
  Dews began his career in coaching as an assistant baseball coach at 
Troy State University in Troy, Alabama. He held that position for 13 
years before becoming the head baseball coach at Wallace Community 
College in Dothan, Alabama in 1990. The next year Dews also became the 
athletic director at Wallace, a position he held until his recent 
retirement.
  In 2001, Dews switched from the baseball diamond to the softball 
field and established one of the top community college softball 
programs in the nation. During his tenure, Wallace Community College 
won nine consecutive Southern Division championships, three state 
championships--which included trips to the Junior College World Series. 
Under Dews' leadership of Wallace's softball team, there were 15 All-
Americans for player performance and nine selected as Academic All-
Americans.
  In 2008, Coach Dews was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of 
Fame--an acknowledgment of his significant and successful career. I 
applaud Dews for his dedication to student athletes and his involvement 
with college athletics for 35 years.
  I wish Coach Dews the best in his retirement as he spends more time 
with his wife, Mary Ann, their children and grandchildren--and 
continued involvement with his church as a Deacon at Bethlehem Baptist 
Church in Headland, Alabama.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Gene Dews. I 
am grateful for his service, and proudly recognize his contribution to 
the betterment of student athletes, and others, in the great state of 
Alabama.

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